assessing risks and benefits. risk vs. benefit: tipping the scales
TRANSCRIPT
Assessing Risks and Benefits
Risk vs. Benefit:
Tipping the Scales
We make choices everyday…
How can risk-benefit assessment help us make better choices?
• What are the risks to health?
• What are the benefits to our every day living?
WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT?
A process that evaluates the
likelihood that adverse health effects
may occur as a result of
exposure to a chemical,
physical, or biological agent.
Risk Assessment
Risk Characterization
Data collection and evaluation
Toxicity Assessment
Exposure Assessment
Toxicology is the study
of toxicants and their
adverse effects.
Adverse effects = Any change from an organism’s normal functioning.
Toxicity Assessment
The Dose Makes a Difference
• Different chemicals have different concentrations at which they are harmful.
• Different people (depending on age, size, genetics, and other health factors) may be more sensitive to chemicals than others.
• Toxicologists study the adverse effects of toxicants at many levels: organism, organ, cell, organelle, molecule
• Toxicants may interfere with the normal functioning of proteins, lipids, and DNA.
Areas of concern when
studying exposure: • Frequency• Duration• Routes of entry• Distribution/storage in the body• Probability that exposure will cause
adverse effects
Exposure Assessment
Risk Characterization
Risk Characterization
Toxicity Assessment Exposure
Assessment
Risk Characterization
• Is an estimate of the likelihood that exposure to a toxicant may cause harm.
Risk is only part of the picture
Benefits• As part of our society, you must make
decisions which assess risks, costs, benefits, and trade-offs.
– Thalidomide: Leprosy treatment vs. birth defects
– Pesticides: Mosquito abatement vs. toxicity
Tradeoffs
• Planning to reduce risks to take advantage of the benefits offered by use of a particular ‘product.’
– BOTOX: Neurotoxin vs. wrinkles
– Sunlight: Vitamin D and skin cancer
• The decisions of this generation may choose tradeoffs that benefit them but pose risks for future generations.
– Fossil fuels use vs. global warming
– DES vs. reproductive system cancer
– Hazardous waste disposal vs. increase of groundwater pollutants
PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE
If the consequences of an action are unknown, butjudged to have some potential for negative consequences, then it is better to avoid that action.
“Better safe than sorry.”
“The first principle of science is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest to fool.” - Richard Feynmanwww.hoagiesgifted.org/brain_research.htm
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